Green happenings: Charlottesville environmental news and events

Each week, C-VILLE’s Green Scene page takes a look at local environmental news. The section’s bulletin board has information on local green events and keeps you up to date on statewide happenings. Got an event or a tip you’d like to see here and in the paper? Write us at news@c-ville.com.

Tree town:The Charlottesville Area Tree Stewards have extended their tree voucher program into the spring. Those who live in the city or surrounding counties on a half acre or less can e-mail CATSTreeVoucher2013@gmail.com by March 30 for a $25 voucher toward a plantable tree redeemable at several area nurseries.

Rollin’ down the river: Register now for the Rivanna Conservation Society’s annual Rivanna River Sojourn. Join fellow paddlers April 27-28 for day trips down the river, with all transportation, guies, safety measures, and daily lunches and snacks provided by the RCS and Blue Ridge Mountain Sports. Feel free to bring along a trash bag for collecting garbage, and whoever finds the “most interesting piece of trash” will go home with a prize.

Get the buzz: Calling all beekeepers! The next Central Virginia Beekeepers meeting will take place on Thursday, April 4, in the Education Center at Ivy Creek Natural Area. Marcel Durieux will discuss his experience in Rwanda with the club, sharing his discoveries on how beekeeping can seriously endanger a protected rainforest. The meeting is free, and members encourage beginners to come check it out.

Hoophouse hopes:City Schoolyard Garden, the 3-year-old organization that provides hands-on gardening education to city students, is raising money for a hoophouse at Buford Middle School. The structure allows students to start their own seedlings, and provides an outdoor gathering space protected from the elements. The group launched a Kickstarter campaign in hopes of raising $6,000 to cover the cost of the project.

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Our comments system is designed to foster a lively debate of ideas, offer a forum for the exchange of ad hoc information, and solicit honest, respectful feedback about the work we do. We’re glad you’re participating. Here are a few simple rules to follow, which should be relatively straightforward.
1) Don’t call people names or accuse them of things you cannot support.
2) Don’t direct foul language, racial slurs, or offensive terms at other commenters or our staff.
3) Don’t use the discussion on our site for commercial (or shameless personal) promotion.
We reserve the right to remove posts and ban commenters who violate any of the rules listed above, or the spirit of the discussion. We’re trying to create a safe space for a wide range of people to express themselves, and we believe that goal can only be achieved through thoughtful, sensitive editorial control.
If you have questions or comments about our policies or about a specific post, please send an e-mail to editor@c-ville.com.

In the final day of the Monument Fund’s lawsuit against the city, Charlottesville Circuit Court Judge Richard Moore ruled that the plaintiffs won’t be awarded damages, but will receive a to-be-determined amount in attorneys’ fees that’ll be less than the original ask of over $604,000.

Extensive and lengthy cross-examinations were heard in Charlottesville Circuit Court on Thursday as lawyers representing the plaintiffs in the lawsuit against the city to prevent it from removing statues of two Confederate generals broke down why they believe the city owes over $604,000 in

A judge has ruled that Charlottesville can’t remove the two Confederate statues that stand downtown, saying Wednesday that doing so would be in violation of a Virginia historical preservation law. On the first day of a three-day trial, Charlottesville Circuit Court Judge Richard Moore issued a

A dispute over the rezoning of a Methodist church that wants to add affordable housing units reached Charlottesville Circuit Court on September 5, when a group of city residents filed a petition for the plan to be thrown out. Thirty-one people, including Belmont/Carlton Neighborhood Association

Monticello not pleased The website of Ronnie Roberts, independent candidate for Albemarle sheriff, used one of the county’s most iconic images—Monticello—in its background. The only problem is, the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, which owns the mountaintop manse, does not allow images of the house

By Caroline Eastham Cecilia Mills took a class to realize her own racism. “Some white people want to say ‘I don’t see race,’” says Mills. “Well, it’s there. To say you don’t see it doesn’t help fix it.” Mills is one of nearly 40 people who have taken a whiteness meditation-based class series

Herb Dickerson and his sister own a house in Fifeville, and when he got a phone call from her telling him to get over there on August 27, “I could hear the frantic in her voice,” he says. He pulled onto Seventh Street and saw “this armored vehicle blocking the street and a state police […]

Labor Day has traditionally represented the start of the presidential and congressional election seasons, providing candidates a window of one year and two months during which they campaign, meet with voters, and raise money. With the federal holiday now in the rearview mirror, that season is

Beto shows up—again Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke made a second visit to Charlottesville August 31. O’Rourke, who is trailing in the crowded Dem field, hit Champion Brewing to support former School Board chair Amy Laufer, who is running to unseat state Senator Bryce Reeves. He

By Sydney Halleman The waiting room of Whole Woman’s Health mimics that of a spa foyer. A selection of organic herbal teas lies on a back table, amid an array of fitness and mindfulness magazines. On the wall is a quote from Georgia O’Keeffe, in pale purple: “I’ve been absolutely terrified

Just a little over two years after white supremacists marched through the streets of Charlottesville, the final criminal court case opened as a result of the events that unfolded August 11-12, 2017, came to an end Tuesday evening. Tyler Davis, 51, was sentenced to two years and one month in

Bridging the Belmont gap Replacing the 1962-built Belmont Bridge was first recommended in 2003. Many plans have come and gone, as has at least one design company. In 2012, some, like former city councilor Bob Fenwick, said the bridge’s deterioration was the result of city neglect and could be

Julia Lapan’s 3-year-old daughter was excited to take her first gymnastics class at Classics Gymnastics. “She ran onto the floor,”—only to be sent back because she was wearing a T-shirt and shorts. “I bristled at that because she was wearing what the boys were,” says Lapan, who asked that her

The woman collecting signatures to close the Fourth Street Downtown Mall crossing has withdrawn her petition and deleted her Twitter account. “There was so much outcry, so much hatred,” says petitioner Aileen Bartels. Safety was her primary concern, and she wanted people to be able to visit the

Amid complaints from local residents that he hasn’t made himself available to constituents, Congressman Denver Riggleman has scheduled his first in-person town hall meeting for August 28—in Danville. The Republican representative of Virginia’s 5th District in the U.S. House of Representatives

Pearl Outlaw was 9 years old when she found out she was going blind. One of the brightest students in her class, Outlaw shone during discussions but baffled her teachers with surprisingly low test scores. Looking for answers, her parents decided to have her eyes checked—perhaps she needed

Who’s suing whom In advance of the two-year statute of limitations, a flurry of lawsuits have been filed stemming from the events of August 12, 2017, adding to several that are ongoing. Having a hard time keeping up with who’s a defendant and who’s a plaintiff? Here’s a primer: Sines v.

Less than a year after Charlottesville City Schools were called out in the national press for longstanding racial disparities, the city is paying nearly $500,000 to help remake its gifted education program. City Council approved the appropriation of $468,000 on August 5 to pay the salaries of

John Clark is a regular on the Downtown Mall, sitting in a beach chair with a tube-feeding machine. He has stomach cancer and says he hates to ask for money, but needs help paying for the medical supplies he needs as a result of having to get all of his nutrition through a tube. Clark’s […]

Forward together It was a full house at First Baptist Church on West Main Street on August 12, as a diverse crowd gathered for an interfaith service. “It fills my heart to see the pews filled like this,” said deacon Don Gathers. “We’ve come together not because of what happened, but in spite of